have, in several ages of the church, indulged to ecclesiastics a power of civil government, privileges and defensatives in ordine ad spiritualia,' that is, to enable them, with the help of the civil power, to advance the interests of religion and the spiritual men, which by evil men is apt to be despised, as all the threatenings of the gospel and the terrors of death, and the horrible affrightments of the day of judgment, are: so God hath given to the supreme civil power authority over all public religion 'in ordine ad bonum temporale.' Princes and states did the other, but God did this. That was well, very well: but this is necessary, and that was not. The reason of both is this, because no external accident can hinder the intentions of God in the effects of religion and the event of souls. Religion thrives as well in a storm and in persecution, as in sunshine. God had more summerfriends under Constantine, but possibly as many true ones under Diocletian; or if he had not, it was men's fault, their weakness, not their necessity. But the civil interest can be really hindered by the intervening of new doctrines and false manners of worship; and the commonwealth, if it be destroyed, hath no recompense in eternity: and therefore God hath not called them happy, when they are troubled, and hath not bidden them to suffer rebellion, or to rejoice when men "speak evil of dignities," and he hath not told them that great is their reward in heaven;" but the whole purpose and proper end of the government being for temporal felicity, though that temporal felicity is, by the wisdom of God, made to minister to the eternal, the government expires in this world, and shall never return to look for recompense for its sufferings. But every single man shall; and though temporal power can be taken from princes, yet a man's religion cannot be taken from him: and therefore God hath given to princes a supreme power for the ordering of religion in order to the commonwealth, without which it had not had sufficient power to preserve itself; but he hath not given to ecclesiastics a power over princes in matter of government in order to spiritual things. 1. Because though spiritual things may réceive advantage by such powers, if they had them,-yet they may do as much harm as good, and have done so very often, and may do so again. 2. Because God hath appointed to spiritual persons, spiritual instruments sufficient to the end

of that appointment. 3. Because he hath also established another economy for religion, the way of the cross, and the beaten way of humility, and the defensatives of mortification, and the guards of self-denial, and the provisions of contentedness, and the whole spiritual armour, and prayers and tears, and promises, and his Holy Spirit, and these are infinitely sufficient to do God's work, and they are infinitely the better way. 4. Because religion, being a spiritual thing, can stand alone, as the soul can by itself subsist: and secular violence can no more destroy faith, or the spiritual and true worship of God, than a sword can kill the understanding. 5. Because if God had given a temporal power to ecclesiastics in order to a spiritual end, then he had set up two supremes in the same affairs, which could never agree but by the cession of one; that is, the two supremes could never agree but by making one of them not to be supreme.

3. And the world hath seen this last particular verified by many sad experiments. For when the Roman emperors, residing in the east, gave great powers and trusts to the patriarchs of the west, by their spiritual sword they began to hew at the head of gold, and lop off many royalties from the imperial stock. And Leo Iconomachus, for breaking down the images of saints, felt their power, for they suffered not the people to pay him tribute in Italy, threatening to interdict them the use of sacraments and public devotions, if they did. But as soon as ever they began by spiritual power to intermeddle in secular affairs, they quickly pulled the western empire from the east, and in a convenient time lessened and weakened that of the west. For Pope John III. combined with Berengarius and Adalbar his son, against the emperor Otho the Great, and they must pretend themselves to be kings of Italy. Pope John XVIII. made a league with Crescentius, and stirred up the people against Otho III. Pope Benedict IX. excited Peter of Hungary to pretend to the empire, only to hinder Henry, surnamed Niger, from entering into Italy to repeat his rights. And all the world knows what Gregory VII. did to Henry IV. how he first caused Rodolph of Suevia, and afterward Egbert of Saxony to fight against him: and here their great quarrel was about the power of choosing the pope. Then they fell out about the collation of bishopricks; for which cause

Pope Gelasius XII. caused the archbishop of Mentź to rebel against Henry V., and there the Pope got the better of him, and by the aid of his Norman forces, which he had in Sicily, beat him into compliance. Then they fell out about some fees of the empire; and Innocent II. raised up Roger the Norman, against Lotharius XII., about the dutchy of Pouille : and St. Bernard being made umpire in the quarrel, the Pope got a share in Bavaria; for whoever lost, signior Papa, like the butler's box, was sure to get, by the advantage of his supreme conduct of religion, which, by this time, he got into his hands.

4. And now he improved it providently. For the same Innocent stirred up Guelphus, duke of Bavaria, against Conrad III. and thence sprang that dismal and bloody faction between the Guelphs and Ghibellines. But what should I reckon more? I must transcribe the Annals of Germany to enumerate the hostilities of the Roman bishops against the emperors their lords, when they got the conduct and civil government of religious affairs into their power. Frederick Barbarossa, Henry VI., his brother Philip, Frederick II., Henry VII., Frederick of Austria, Lewis of Bavaria, Sigismund, Frederick III., felt the power of a temporal sword in a religious scabbard: and this was so certain, so constant, a mischief, that when the Pope had excommunicated eight emperors, and made the temporal sword cut off them, whom the spiritual sword had struck at, the emperors grew afraid. And Rodolph of Haspurg, when he was chosen emperor, durst not go into Italy, which he called the lion's den, because the entrance was fair, but few returning footsteps were espied. And it grew to be a proverb, saith Guicciardini1; "Proprium est ecclesiæ odisse Cæsares," "The church hates Cæsar;" and the event was that which Carion complained of, "Sceleribus pontificum, hoc imperium languefactum est;""By the wickedness of the bishops of Rome, the Roman empire is fallen into decay."

5. These instances are more than enough to prove, that, if religion be governed by any hand with which the civil power hath nothing to do, it may come to pass, that the civil

* Vide Luitpran. lib. 6. cap. 6. Cuspinian, et Theodoric. à Niem in Vita Othon. III. Lib. 4. Chron.

power shall have no hands at all, or they shall be in bands. The consequence of these is this, that if the supreme civil power be sufficient to preserve itself, it can provide against the evil use of the spiritual sword, and consequently can conduct all religion, that can by evil men be abused, so as to keep it harmless. If by excommunications the bishop can disturb the civil interest, the civil power can hold his hands, that he shall not strike with it; or if he does, can take out the temporal sting, that it shall not venom and fester. If, by strange doctrines, the ecclesiastics can alien the hearts of subjects from their duty, the civil power can forbid those doctrines to be preached. If the canons of the church be seditious, or peevish, or apt for trouble, the civil power can command them to be rescinded, or may refuse to verify them and make them into laws. But that we may not trust our own reason only, I shall instance in the particulars of jurisdiction, and give evident probation of them from the authority of the best ages of the church.

6. And first in general, that kings or the supreme civil power is by God made an overseer, a ruler, a careful father, a governor, a protector, and provider for his church, is evident in the Scriptures, and the doctrine of the primitive ages of the church. "Nutritii et patres ecclesiæ," is their appellative, which we are taught from Scripture, "nursing fathers of the church."-" Pastores;" that is the word God used of Cyrus the Persian," Cyrus my shepherd;" and when the Spirit of God, by David, calls to kings and princes of the earth to "kiss the Son lest he be angry;" it intends that as kings they should use their power and empire in those things, in which the Son will be worshipped by the children of men. For besides the natural and first end of government, which is temporal felicity, of which I have already spoken, there is also a supernatural, the eternal felicity of souls; and to this civil government does minister by the economy and design of God and therefore it was well said of Ammianus ", " Nihil aliud est imperium (ut sapientes definiunt) nisi cura salutis aliena." It is true in both senses; "Empire is nothing else (as wise men define it) but a power of doing good by taking care for the salvation of others." To do them good here, and to cause them to do themselves good hereafter, is the end of

m Lib. 39.

all government. And the reason of it is well expressed by the emperor Theodosius Junior to St. Cyril". "Quandoquidem ut vera religio justa actione perficitur, ita et respublica utriusque ope nixa florescit;" "As true religion is perfected by justice, so by religion and justice the republic does flourish;" and therefore he adds, " Deus optimus maximus pietatis et justæ actionis quoddam quasi vinculum nos esse voluerit," "The emperor is, by the divine appointment, the common band of justice and religion."

7. In the pursuance of this truth, Eusebius tells, that Constantine the Great was wont to say to the bishops concerning himself, "Vos intra ecclesiam, ego extra ecclesiam à Deo episcopus constitutus sum;" "You within the churchwalls, and I without, but both of us are appointed by God to be bishops or overseers of his saints and servants." And in the edict of Valentinian and Martian, which approves the acts of the council of Chalcedon, they are both called " inclyti pontifices," "illustrious bishops:"-and the emperor Leo III. in his epistle to Gregory the bishop of Rome, says of himself, Οτι βασιλεὺς καὶ ἱερεύς εἰμι, “ I am both a king and a priest;” meaning in office, not in order-in government, not in ministries. These and such-like words are often used in the letters interchanged between the princes and the bishops in the ancient church, of which that of Leo the Roman bishop concerning the French capitulars is remarkable, writing to Lotharius: "De capitulis vel præceptis imperialibus vestris vestrorum pontificum prædecessorum irrefragabiliter custodiendis et conservandis, quantum valuimus et valemus in Christo propitio, et nunc et in ævum nos conservaturos modis omnibus profitemur." It was a direct oath of supremacy. Concerning the capitulars or imperial precepts given by you and your predecessors who were bishops (viz. in their power and care over churches), we, through the assistance of Christ, promise as much as we are able to keep and to conserve them for ever." The limit of which power is well explicated by St. Austin P in these words; "Quando imperatores veritatem tenent, pro ipsa veritate contra errorem jubent; quod quisquis contempserit, ipse sibi judicium acquirit;" "When the emperors are Christians and right believers, they • De Vita Constant. lib. 4. cap. 24. P Epist. 166.

66

D Apud Cyril. ep. 17.